


Standing Guard

by buzzbuzz34



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 06:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19267975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzbuzz34/pseuds/buzzbuzz34
Summary: Set between seasons 3 and 4 when the Archival Assistants start living in the Archives to avoid the avatars that might harm them outside its walls.  Neither Melanie nor Basira can sleep, but they feel a little bit safer lying beside each other.





	Standing Guard

Basira didn’t know when they all decided to just start living in the Archives.  It started as one bad night here, an early morning there, a shadow on the street that followed behind, a whisper in the ear… and then they were all sleeping there full-time.  Even Martin, though nobody really knew where he kept himself. 

Did they need to keep watch?  Position some sort of sentry in case the Flesh or some other group decided to ambush them in the dead of night?  She immediately kicked herself for that choice of words as they ran through her brain. 

It’s not as if she slept well anyway.  If someone or something got in, she would probably hear them.  Fat lot of good it would do. 

Speaking of, she heard a rustle, and the sound of gentle footsteps.  She opened her eyes wider and attempted to get a look at the intruder without giving herself away as awake and a potential threat.  The form stepped closer and closer, until…

“You up?”

Basira let out the breath she’d been holding when Melanie spoke.  “Yeah.  You alright?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“I know the feeling.”

“Can I… Can I lie down here?  I don’t want to…”  She mumbled something about darkness and being alone, but her voice was a grumble of irritation and sleepiness. 

Basira scooted over to make room for Melanie on her camp bed.  “Of course.”  As Melanie got herself situated under the covers, Basira asked, “I thought you’d been taking something to help you sleep.”  She’d managed to convince her downing half a bottle of whiskey was not the best method of getting to sleep, but she couldn’t stop her from using alternative methods. 

“Yeah.  Have been.  Doesn’t always work.  Doesn’t always make the nightmares better.  Sometimes it just makes them more real.  Or, seem more real?  I don’t know.”

“I get that too.”  Basira whispered, staring up at the ceiling. 

She felt the hard cot shift as Melanie moved a little closer and wrapped her fingers around Basira’s arm, holding it close. 

Given everything that they were facing, discussing the nature of their relationship to each other seemed irrelevant.  They didn't need to put a name to it.  Who had time for romance when supernatural horrors were assaulting them at every front?  But if their days were almost assuredly numbered, maybe there was no better time than the present?

Basira opted for the middle ground.  She rolled to her side, extracting her arm from Melanie but instead pressing a firm kiss to her forehead.  Perhaps that said enough. 

Even in the dim light, she could see a smile on Melanie’s face.  It had been too long since she smiled; a real, pure smile.  She nuzzled into Basira’s shoulder and let out a heavy sigh. 

“Thank you.  For being here,” Melanie mumbled into her sleeve.  “I mean, I wish you weren’t involved in all this, but… I’m glad I’m not alone.  I feel safe – safer – being here with you.  You manage to make it all seem a little less hopeless.”

She leaned up and brushed her lips against Basira’s, quickly but surely.  Before Basira could find the words to reply, Melanie had flopped back down, grabbed a hold of Basira’s arm, and started to let sleep take her. 

“Goodnight.”

Basira watched as Melanie’s eyes slowly began to close and the early signs of sleep washed over her. 

It became an almost common occurrence for Melanie to slip into bed beside Basira when her sleeping draught didn’t quite do the trick.  And Basira would be lying if she said it didn’t make her feel infinitely safer to have Melanie beside her.  On rare nights, when Basira managed sleep herself, she didn’t even know she’d had a visitor until she awoke in the morning to find Melanie beside her, still clinging to Basira’s arm as if she would be dragged away without that lifeline. 

Usually, Melanie still progressed with the formalities, asking if Basira was awake, even when the answer was obvious, before crawling in beside her.  One night in particular, though, she simply fell onto the hard mattress and held Basira’s arm tightly. 

“You alright?”  At this point, they knew that the question regarded the more immediate state of their condition, not overall.  Nobody was alright on the whole.

Melanie sighed and just pulled a little tighter on Basira’s sleeve. 

“Yeah, fair enough.”

Basira moved her hand just enough so that she could lace her fingers in between Melanie’s while still allowing her to hold on tightly with her other free hand. 

“Thank you,” Melanie whispered.

“You’re welcome.  Any time.”

“That’s just it, though.  You’re always there for me.  And I’m just… I’m really grateful for that.” 

She leaned up and pressed a short kiss to Basira’s cheek.  The name of their relationship didn’t matter, not really, as Basira rolled over and tugged Melanie a bit closer and moved their lips together. 

They both giggled against each other when they broke apart, smiling like nothing terrible had happened to them.  They existed in a bubble where, for those few moments, nothing could touch them. 

“Like I said,” Basira added as she wrapped her arms around Melanie and held her close, “any time.”

“Goodnight, Basira.  I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Those words seemed to echo on the walls of the Archives as if a dare and a promise to all those out there that sought to do them harm; they would have to go through both of them.  And they would not surrender or be an easy target as long as they had each other. 

Melanie eventually began to let out a quiet snore as sleep took over, still nuzzled into Basira’s embrace.  Instead of her arm, she instead held tightly onto a small section of Basira’s shirt, and that grasp moved as Basira did, tethering them together in the dark.

“Goodnight, Melanie.  I’ll keep watch for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Check out more of my writing at kellanswritingblog.tumblr.com or come chat on my personal, moirasberet.tumblr.com. I love this ship and the fact that there were only nine works of them here when I first started posting my tma fics is a tragedy I seek to rectify lol <3


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